It’s a native plant and yes, as the name “baneberry” suggests, it is toxic. It’s an understory plant of deciduous woodlands.

Or I should amend that to “toxic to mammals”. Many fruits/seeds/berries/nuts that are toxic to many mammals are not toxic (or as toxic) to birds – which are the preferred consumers of the fruit and dispersers of the seeds.

Common name, “dolls’ eyes”. I’ve got a modest clump by my front walk where it gets little direct sun. Rather nice, sort-of-ferny foliage during the spring and summer before the berries put on their show.

Easy from seed. Sow in fall when the berries are ripe and leave the pot outside for the winter.

One of the common names of Actaea pachypoda is “Doll’s Eyes.” The name is derived from the fact that the stigmatic region of the fruit is dark giving an overall appearance of a small eye. During the days of Settlement in North America the fruits were harvested and stitched onto children’s dolls, hence the name.

The macabre connection of this plant is less well known. Young children, being young children, put nearly everything in their mouths. Members of this genus contain cardiac toxins that can cause rapid death, especially in humans of low body weight. Thus the gift of doll to a child was often a kiss of death!

I have one of these in my front yard in Chicago. It’s been coming up every year for 20 years or more. Never seen one anywhere else in the city and I’m kind of a wild flower enthusiast so I notice things like that.